Video: Transformations

In the previous movies, we've been showing you how to select lighting clips that best complement to your original underlying footage. In the next few movies, we are going to show you how to further find-tune those lighting clips though the use of transformations such as Scale and Rotate, through color correction, through improving contrast and using other effects such as blur. Let's start with the transformations. Here we have another shot of our trumpet player that has a strong upper right to lower left orientation. Here is the lighting layer we like to use on top of it which goes from upper left to lower right, kind of in the opposite direction.

Check out the free training on the new Apple Final Cut Studio suite released July 2009. Final Cut Studio Overview includes three free hours of tutorials on Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Color 1.5, Soundtrack Pro 3, DVD Studio Pro 4, Compressor 3.5, and Final Cut Server 1.5

This course was created and produced by Chris Meyer. We are honored to host his material in the lynda.com Online Training Library®.

Final Cut Pro: Adding Lighting Effects in Post demonstrates how to use any version of Final Cut Pro to easily add animated lighting effects to existing footage. Going beyond basic techniques, Chris Meyer shares his personal experience and uses many examples to teach the best way to select and fine-tune lighting clips to enhance a variety of underlying shots. He presents techniques for subtle enhancements that will help hold the viewer's attention while adding production value to virtually any shot.

Topics include:

Selecting the right footage for the right lighting effects
Transforming images with lighting and color correction
Using vignetting to set the scene
Adjusting blur for a subtle change

Transformations

In the previous movies, we've been showing you how to select lighting clipsthat best complement to your original underlying footage. In the next few movies, we are going to show you how to further find-tune those lighting clipsthough the use of transformations such as Scale and Rotate, through color correction,through improving contrast and using other effects such as blur. Let's startwith the transformations.Here we have another shot of our trumpet player that has a strong upper rightto lower left orientation. Here is the lighting layer we like to use on top of itwhich goes from upper left to lower right, kind of in the opposite direction.

So as I turn the lighting layer on and put it into Add mode,you'll see that the light just coming from the wrong direction.The first I need to do is flop my lighting layer so that it's coming from theupper corner instead. I'll select it and apply Effect > Video Filters >Perspective > Flop. And now my layer is coming from the upper right instead.It's a better match for what's going on.But still not perfect. You notice that the trumpet has a very particular linethat's following right through this angle. But my light layer does not have thesame angle to its light rays. Well, we can enhance that. I'll double-click it,open its Motion tab and start playing with its Rotation a little bit until I'verotated it in a way that the rays are now following the same line as the trumpet.

It doesn't cover the whole frame anymore, but that's easy. I'll just go aheadand boost up the Scale slightly until it now covers the entire frame. Home andplay, and now it's as if I had a lighting director spend a lot of time setting upa special animated light on the set to enhance this footage. In reality, I did it pretty simply in post.

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Learn by watching, listening, and doing! Exercise files are the same files the author uses in the course, so you can download them and follow along. Exercise files are available with all Premium memberships.
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